GT/RA Wrestlers Close Regular Season At Pocahontas Invitational

February 6, 2014

POCAHONTAS?- The Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven- Ayrshire Titans closed out the regular season over the weekend with an appearance in the Pocahontas Area Invitational tournament on Saturday. The Titans earned three first-place finishes and had nine wrestlers earn placings in the event.

Beau Schany would claim first place honors at 126 pounds, as he was pinned in the opening round, in 3:08, but came back to receive a bye before winning a medical forfeit. Schany then earned a decision victory and would win the title with a 5:17 win by fall over Colton Younie of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn.

At 182 pounds, Kodi Ferguson won the championship as he earned a pair of byes in the first two rounds, then came up with a pair of wins by fall before meeting Matt Lenz of Pocahontas Area in the finals and scoring a 3:25 win by fall to claim the championship.

Rounding out the first place finishes was Cody Thompson at 285 pounds. Thompson had a first round bye, then recorded three straight wins by fall to earn his finals berth against Josh Lutter of South Hamilton, and won the title with a 6-0 decision victory.

AT 152 pounds, Tyler Hoffman took third place honors, as he lost a Major Decision in the first round, but earned a Technical Fall, and they took a pair of wins by fall before defeating Dakota Drenth of Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in the consolation finals with a 2:25 win by fall to finish third.

Hunter Brown, wrestling at 160 pounds, also would finish third after he stared his day with a win by fall over Dalton Knobloch from West Bend-Mallard/ Gilmore City-Bradgate in 3:36. Brown would the be pinned in his next two matches, but rallied to win a 12-9 decision before being pinned in overtime to finish the day with a 2-3 record for third place.

At 220 pounds, Kyle Long would lose a decision and was pinned in his first two matches, but received a pair of byes before earning a :43 win by fall over Corbin Studer of West Bend-Mallard/Gilmore City-Bradgate to earn his third place finish.

Sam George, wrestling at 120 pounds, would lose his first three matches by pins, but would receive a bye and a medical forfeit to finish fourth.

Nate Harris also received a fourth place finish at 195 pounds for the Titans, as he took a first-round win by fall, but was pinned in 1:39 by Colton Wickman of WBM/GCB, and then was pinned in the third round. Harris would then receive a bye before being pinned in his final match to finish with a2-3 record.

Rounding out the finishes for GT/RA was Boston Swan at 145 pounds. Swan was pinned in his first match, but received a bye before he was forced to forfeit his final three matches to finish fifth.

The Titans will enter the Class 1A Sectional Tournament this Saturday when they wrestle at Okoboji High School in Milford. Action begins at 12 noon. In the Sectional Tournament, the first and second place finishers advance to the Class 1A District Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 11, at Sibley-Ocheyedan High School, where the first and second place finisher in each weight class qualify for the State Wrestling Championships, Feb. 20-22 at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

Additionally, the Sectional Champion team qualifies for Regional Tean Dual Competition Tuesday, Feb. 11, with the Regional Dual Winning team qualifying for the State Team Dual Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Wells Fargo Arena.